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| Dorchester Heights National Historic Site -- South Boston, MA Jameslwoodward, wikipedia commons |
The traditionally Irish neighborhood in Boston is South
Boston, near the hill called Dorchester Heights. On March 17th the entire city
erupts with Celtic music, parades, political breakfasts and the green beer
flows. However, the day is a holiday in
Suffolk County not because of the good Irish saint, it is the anniversary of “Evacuation
Day”.
On 17 March 1776 the Continental Army won its first victory
of the Revolutionary War by faking out the British with a false fortress
erected on Dorchester Heights. Cannons captured from Fort Ticonderoga, hauled across Massachusetts to Boston, were aimed down at the British ships in the harbor.
The fort was built overnight of hay and wood overnight to surprise the
British Navy . British General William
Howe decided to retreat to Nova Scotia, and hundreds of loyalists
followed. It was a big morale boost for
the patriots.
In 1938 the Dorchester Heights Monument was constructed,
followed by a 1941 law establishing the holiday. The fact that it was largely an Irish victory
to celebrate their patron saint’s day was not lost on the lawmakers, who signed
the bill in green ink.
There is also an Evacuation Day celebrated in New York, on
the anniversary of 25 November 1783 when the British left Manhattan.
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| Dorchester Heights, Evacuation Day 2009 (or St. Patrick's Day?) http://www.flickr.com/photos/adampieniazek/3360697025/ |
A link to my blog post about Fort Ticonderoga:
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/12/fort-ticonderoga.html
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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "March 17th in Boston ~ Evacuation Day or Saint Patrick's Day?", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 15, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/03/march-17th-in-boston-evacuation-day-or.html: accessed [access date]).
My fifth great-grandfather Thomas Pinkham was at Ft. Ticonderoga and helped schlepp those cannons to Dorchester. As a Bostonian, I will steer clear of Southie on Saturday. Too much time off and too much beer are two ingredients that don't go well together.
ReplyDeleteWow, I had never heard that-- guess you learn something new every day!
ReplyDeleteMy 2nd generation Irish-American grandmother never missed the St. Patrick'sDay parade. :-)
So St. Patrick's day is the same as Evacuation Day for South Bostoners, faking out General William Howe. That is really cool. In 1776, no less. The first victory! A good nugget of historical information.
ReplyDeleteJust got to pass this on to friends on the west coast. Thanks, Heather.
ReplyDelete